Christmas Tree Day III

It's Christmas Time!! Jesse and I love Christmas and all the joy filled traditions, the time spent with family, the yummy treats, the giving of presents, and the happiness that fills our souls.













The Simpson and Wyzga family traveled up to Pine Valley Farms to pick and cut down the winning tree! We disappeared in a forest of Douglas firs, sizing up all of the choices, and marking the ones we liked with fallen leaves. Unbeknown to us, the Wyzga's picked the first living tree they saw and were done in 10 minutes. We were undeterred by their haste, broke the news to them that we would be at least another hour, and continued looking for the world's greatest tree. We stumbled upon a group of trees called Canaan firs and quickly gathered up our leaves. We scoured the hill side and 20 minutes later emerged from the tree field victorious!








After the tree was shaken half to death and tied up, we strapped it to the roof and drove it back to our house. There, we enjoyed home made and decorated sugar cookies with the Wyzga fam. It was a great day and a great start to the Christmas season!

Wine and Fighting

Rose and I lived it up and spent the day at the Shenandoah Wine Festival in Virginia and the night at the Washington Caps game. The wine was sweet and the Caps were bitter.

wine fest

Rose and I thought it would be nice to spend a beautiful autumn afternoon in the quiet county side, sampling the young but rich wineries of Virginia. Little did we know that thousands of others had this very same thought as well. Amidst the pushing, drinking, shoving, drinking, drinking, crowding, a mile long I.D. check line, we managed to have fun. Highlights of the trip included eating fresh kettle corn (while standing in the mile long line), getting a free etched wine glass, tasting mulled wine, the amazingly beautiful day, fun with family, and of course the Wine.

Caps game

Rose and I raced to the Caps game and got there just as the game began. We sat 10 rows back from the ice!! The game was a defensive struggle that saw two exciting fights. The Caps fought hard and ended up winning the two fights, but losing the game 3-2. We had a great time together and rode home on the metro exhausted but happy.

We are grateful for...

Two families to celebrate Thanksgiving with!!!

The Simpsons

Followed by a second dinner at the Wyzga's!!

Wyzga Thanksgiving

And we are so grateful that we did not have to figure out how to coordinate a full Thanksgiving dinner by ourselves- we like bringing sides.

Thanks to both moms for all your hard work Thanksgiving Day! We love you!

Romantic Getaway

After a hard month at work and school we took an overnight to just be together. Jesse took me to Williamsburg just as the Autumn season was ending. It was so nice to get away!

Williamsburg 07- click for more pics

While there we visited the Williamsburg winery

At home we used our fireplace for the first time since buying our house. With only a screwdriver for an ax, Jesse managed to build a roaring fire and the house is still standing.

Jesse really enjoyed drinking his Chownings Rootbeer from Williamsburg!

Thanks Jesse For a wonderful getaway!!!

Pumpkin Day

Jesse and I love starting our own new traditions. This is our third annual observance of Pumpkin Day. Pumpkin Day has not grauated to its own calendar date, but it always occurs before Halloween.

The day starts with a trip to one of our favorite places to stop by at- Butlers Orchard. We skip out on their kid-crazy pumpkin festival and choose to go during the week when we have the pumpkin patches to ourselves!

It takes about an hour for us to find the Perfect pumpkin. This is serious-It has to be better than last year. At home it's carving time.

Meanwhile our Apple crisp is baking in the oven

Our pumpkins: